The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 750: Expensive

The mantis-man inspected the man's unconscious body. A sharp, sickle-like limb extended from its back, arcing over its shoulder to slice a piece of flesh from the man's face.

The man's body trembled with pain and fear. He had been awake for some time.

As if sampling a vegetable salad, the mantis-man popped the morsel of meat into its mouth, chewed silently, and swallowed. The piece of flesh slid down its throat.

"The meat's tainted. Twenty shillings," it said, its voice devoid of emotion.

"Tainted?" the tavern keeper balked, pulling a salt shaker from his pocket and sprinkling the man's wound with a powder that was clearly not salt.

A sizzling sound filled the air.

An ominous gray mist rose from the groaning man's wound. Unbearable pain and despair brought tears to his eyes.

"We should go," Katerina said, glancing at Lu Li, who was watching the entrance.

Lu Li didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the tavern keeper, who spat in disgust.

"Damn bastard, he almost turned into a monster," the tavern keeper muttered, putting the shaker away. He shook his head at the mantis-man. "I'm not taking him for that price. It costs me six shillings just to get down here and back, and I have to give half of what I make off him to the boss.""Twenty-six shillings, then," the mantis-man replied.

"I can sell him to someone else," the tavern keeper countered.

The sharp sickle, still protruding from its back, twitched slightly, and the mantis-man conceded a little. "Thirty shillings."

"No, he weighs almost 140 pounds," the tavern keeper continued to refuse.

He seemed completely unafraid that the meter-long sickle would run him through.

"It's contaminated meat. It's worthless in the Old Sewer," the mantis-man said in the same flat tone.

"Then I can sell him to the city as a cleaner. They need these dying contaminated types to maintain 'cleanliness'."

But the mantis-man was not easily fooled. "I know your rules on the surface. Cleaners aren't supposed to be coerced."

Exposed, the tavern keeper just shrugged, not particularly embarrassed. "Fine. Add a little more. Forty shillings. Otherwise, I'd rather spend the money on another ticket and take him back up than sell him to you."

"Fine."

The deal was all but sealed when a man in a cloak approached them. With his dark hair and eyes, he looked as mysterious and refined as an aristocrat.

Katerina followed behind him, an expression of annoyance on her face.

"You... the two guests," the tavern keeper quickly recalled who they were.

The image of Lu Li was firmly etched in his memory, as was Katerina's—after all, she was the one who had brought in the "merchandise" worth 40 shillings.

The man about to be sold as goods recognized them too, but he just squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to be unconscious.

"What will you do with him?" Lu Li asked.

"Send him to the slave market. If no one buys him before he starves to death, I'll sell him for meat," the mantis-man answered.

Lu Li frowned and looked at the tavern keeper. "Katerina caught him. Don't we have the right to decide his fate?"

"He broke the tavern's rules. You're just the guests who caught him," the tavern keeper said, unwilling to let the shillings slip through his fingers.

"How much will you get for him?" Lu Li asked. "I can buy him."

The man feigning unconsciousness snapped his eyes open.

"Fif... sixty shillings!"

"Forty shillings," the mantis-man said.

"Of course, I have to make a little extra," the tavern keeper replied casually. "Otherwise, what's the difference between selling to you or to it? Or maybe I should sell to it, and you can bargain with it afterward?"

"If you don't sell him to us, we'll tell your boss you sold him for sixty shillings," Katerina threatened.

Katerina had guessed what Lu Li was planning. She couldn't stop him, so she decided to at least drive the price down to keep him from throwing his money away.

"Damn it, that's not fair!" the tavern keeper swore.

"Sold for 100 shillings!" Elder Sister, who was clinging to Lu Li's back like a koala, suddenly poked her head out and shrieked.

The tavern keeper stared at her as if he'd seen a ghost, completely baffled as to how an Elder Sister from the City of Phantoms could be here.

"Alright, alright, I can sell him to you, but don't meddle in the affairs of the Old Sewer. If you want me to sell him to you, the merchant has to agree."

Lu Li looked at the mantis-man. It answered impassively, "If you wish to trade with me, I will yield this deal to you. We can be friends."

"It agrees. Forty shillings," Katerina stressed the price, as if reminding Lu Li not to overpay, or perhaps mourning the loss of the money herself.

Then she saw Lu Li looking at her.

"The money."

Katerina took half a step back. "Why should I pay?"

"You took my money."

"But I only took twenty shillings!" Katerina was still lamenting her loss.

Of the 230 shillings he'd gotten for the Anomaly Currency, Lu Li only had 20 left.

"I'll pay you back in Midnight."

"Five times the amount."

"Fine."

Feeling slightly better, Katerina pulled a still-warm wad of shillings from her breastplate and counted out forty, which she handed to the tavern keeper.

"Lucky guy. Looks like the noble gentleman wants to save you," the tavern keeper said to the man, having overheard their conversation. Taking the 40 shillings and the money the mantis-man had paid for the slop, he returned to the hole.

Countless threads converged from all sides, lifting the tavern keeper and pulling him toward the exit.

"Dagger." Lu Li took the dagger Katerina offered, walked over to the man, and cut the ropes.

Katerina watched him, thinking that 40 shillings for a hunter wasn't such a terrible loss.

The wound on the man's face had turned black. He lowered his head, thanking his savior. "What do you want me to do... sir?"

"What's your name?"

"Francis, sir."

Lu Li nodded and turned to the mantis-man. "You mentioned a deal earlier. What kind of deal?"

"Any kind."

"Do you sell tickets to the surface?"

"Yes."

"One ticket."

"A ticket to the City of Phantoms station costs five shillings."

Without waiting for Lu Li to speak, Katerina took out fifteen shillings and handed them to him.

Prusius, who was sitting at Katerina's feet, looked up and said, "Our destination is the main station in Midnight. We'll need different tickets for that."

Lu Li nodded but bought the ticket from the mantis-man anyway.

"Are you planning to come back?" Katerina asked, surprised.

Lu Li shook his head, paid the five shillings, and handed the ticket to Francis. "You can go."

Francis stared dumbfounded at the ticket, which looked like a slab of meat.

"You must be out of your mind!" Katerina exclaimed.

"Or should we take him with us to Midnight?" Lu Li retorted.

"But we paid forty shillings for him... and you're just letting him go?" Katerina had thought Lu Li bought him for some other purpose.

"Yes."

Francis was just as stunned. "Sir, how should I address you?"

"Lu Li."

"Mr. Lu Li, are you really... letting me go?" he asked hesitantly.

Lu Li nodded.

Francis was still in a daze, unable to process that he had been granted freedom instead of being sold for food.

After a moment, Francis came to his senses and stared intently at Lu Li, as if trying to commit his face to memory.

"Thank you for your help..."

With the ticket in his hand and confusion in his heart, Francis approached the hole. The threads reappeared, caught him, and lifted him toward the exit.

He kept his eyes fixed on Lu Li until he was out of sight.